Reunion
by thesweeper1957
Summary: Two people unexpectedly reunited find out they didn't really know each other before. As they are becoming reacquainted, they must overcome obstacles and complete a mission. Danger lurks around every corner. This is the second story of a three part series. The first story is called "A Penny for your Thoughts". The third story will be posted soon.


**Reunion**

Caves are dangerous.

I just thought I should pass that along.

**-{(Chapter one)}-**

When I was able to catch my breath, I stood up and turned on my flashlight. I aimed the beam of light upward and found myself looking at the sheer walls of the pit I had inadvertently fallen into. _Gosh!_ I thought: _It doesn't look like there's any way to climb out._ Now, you're probably thinking: Why didn't you just use the rope and grappling hook you carry with you in your bag? That's a very good question. I certainly would have done that if I hadn't used it earlier to swing around a cliff face and looked on in dismay as it swung away out of reach.

I wasn't totally unprepared; I had food and water in my bag and a spade to dig a hole with and some knives and a first aid kit. I also had my phone and I could have called for help, but I was determined to find my own way out before I resorted to that. The thought of climbing up the wall using my knives occurred to me (I saw it once in a movie) but I wasn't sure if that was really possible.

After inspecting every inch of the pit wall, I turned off my flashlight to save the batteries. I then sat on the ground in the semi-darkness and thought about my next move.

As I was brooding at the bottom of the pit a light shone down on me from above. "Hey, little girl," said a voice, "grab my hand and I'll pull you out." A gloved hand came down at me attached to what looked like a long flexible pole. I stood up, put my backpack back on my back and grabbed the hand with both my hands. I was gently lifted upwards and placed on the ground outside the pit.

"Thank you, sir." I said, as I found my footing by the edge of the pit.

"Is that all you have to say… Penny?"

I was stunned. How did he know who I was? Oh sure, I had the same little girl face and little girl figure I always had, but I could have been any little girl you might find in any school or town or cave anywhere.

When I overcame my shock, I gestured toward a big flat rock and said, "How about we sit down and talk awhile?"

The man motioned with his hand for me to go first while saying, "By all means."

My rescuer and I sat together on the rock. It had been so long since I had seen him and I had so much I wanted to say; I didn't know where to begin.

"Uncle Gadget," I said, nervously, "I'm a secret agent. I was assigned to support you in your work but you weren't to know. When I got too old to work with you I was reassigned."

"How old are you?"

"Thirty."

"How old were you when you came to live with me?"

"Eighteen."

"Did you have cosmetic surgery?"

"No, no, I look like this naturally."

He scratched his chin with a hand extending out of his hat and murmured, "Interesting."

I was anxious as I sat beside him on the rock and wondered if he was going to yell at me. For a long time I wanted to meet with him again and straighten out a few things; you know, explain my side of the story, but now that I was with him I felt like running away.

"Penny," said Uncle Gadget, "did you cry when you left me?"

"Yes."

"I cried too."

"I'm sorry."

He patted me on the shoulder and told me I shouldn't worry; he understood all about undercover work. Then he smiled and said he was happy to see his little Penny again.

"Uncle Gadget," I said, "just so you know, my name is really Martha."

He rubbed his chin and looked upward as if he was pondering something. I drummed my fingers on my legs and chewed my lip as I waited for him to respond.

"Okay," he said, glancing down at me again, "I'll call you Martha."

Since I was already confessing, I revealed to him that it was me he rescued in Japan and France. He said (to my surprise) he already knew. That left me wondering: _Maybe I'm not as good as I think I am._

"Okay, Martha," he said, "since we're going by our real names now; why don't you call me Bob?"

I said "Bob?" with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, my name is Robert Gadget."

"Why didn't I know that?"

"Everybody just calls me inspector."

"Or Uncle," I said, "but I'll call you Bob from now on. You know, since we're both adults and everything."

He took the tip off of a finger and shone a light around the cave walls. I saw a lot of rocks and spooky shadows. I also heard dripping and some chattering sounds. At this point in time we weren't very far into the cave.

"Well," said Bob, placing his hands on his knees, "I suppose we're here for the same reason."

"Yes," I said, "I suppose so. Shall we compare notes?"

"You go first."

"Okay," I said, clearing my throat, "as you probably already know, Dr. Claw escaped from jail and he's back in charge of M.A.D… Now, according to our intelligence, M.A.D. has a missile base somewhere in or near this cave. They, according to our reports, want to start world war three. The plan is to launch missiles into major cities as a sort of trigger. You know, hoping governments will start blaming and bombing each other. Then, when the dust settles, Dr. Claw will take over what's left of the world."

Bob shook his head and said, "Pretty stupid plan, if you ask me."

"Don't look at me. It's not my plan."

Bob laughed.

"What does your intelligence say?"

"Same thing."

"I see."

"I still think it's a stupid plan."

"Be that as it may, I still have to try to stop Dr. Claw."

"_We_ have to try to stop Dr. Claw."

"Right, we, that's what I meant."

I wondered how he could just naturally assume we were going to do this together. How could he even trust me?

I scanned the cave with my eyes. There was someone I was looking for. It wouldn't seem right if he wasn't there. I asked Bob, "Is Brain around here anywhere?"

Bob answered, "I had to leave Brain at home. He's getting too old for this sort of thing."

"Oh, poor Brain, maybe I'll visit him after this mission. I think it would probably be alright now."

"I'm sure he would like that."

"I'll have to wear a disguise."

"Well, you know, I think… if you don't dye your hair blond and put it up in pigtails you'll be fine.

"I wouldn't want to do that anyway."

**-{(Chapter two)}-**

Bob and I sat on the rock for a while chatting about old times. It was interesting to hear his perspective now that I knew he knew about me. We really did have a lot of great adventures together.

"Penny, um, I mean, Martha," said Bob, "I think we should get going now."

"You're right." I said, "Duty calls."

"And Inspector Gadget is always on duty." we said together, laughing and pointing at each other.

"Um, but first, Bob," I said, grimacing, "I have to use the little girl's room before we go."

"I don't see one around here anywhere."

I pulled my spade out of my bag and showed it to him. "I brought my own." I said, walking around the nearest big rock. I called out to him, "No peeking now."

"Don't worry about that," he said, chuckling, "unless you suddenly turn into Lana Lamour."

"Bob, I can't do this if I'm laughing."

I heard him snickering on the other side of the rock.

_Aren't you even a little bit curious? _ I thought, with a pout on my face. _I know, I know, you like big women with big you know what's; Lana Lamour, yuck, why do you like her?_

"Bob," I said, coming around the rock while buttoning my pants, "if you want to borrow my spade you…" I looked up and noticed he was gone. _Now where did he go?_

His head (attached to a snakelike neck) rose up over a nearby rock. "It's alright, Martha," he said, "I'm good."

I patted my chest with my hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

When he came out from behind the rock I showed him my new phone and said, "I have GPS on this thing so we can always know our position in this cave."

"That's a nice phone," he said, gently patting my arm, "but won't the M.A.D. agents be able to track us if you use that?"

"I don't think so." I frowned at my phone. "Even if they do, how would they know we're not just some normal everyday spelunkers?"

"Spelunkers?"

"Cave explorers."

"Oh."

"Now that I think about it, I could pass for a spelunker but you have detective written all over you."

"We'll just have to do something about that: go-go-gadget spelunker outfit."

"Huh? You just made that up."

I watched him transform into a spelunker right in front of me. He even had a hard-hat with a light on the front.

_How did he do that? He didn't even know what a spelunker was a few seconds ago._

"Professor Gizmo has upgraded my gadgets in the last few years." he said, transferring a pickaxe from his hat-hand to his arm-hand. "The new technology these days is amazing. If something wears out they just snap in a new part." His eyes wandered around the cave. "Which way does your phone tell us we should go?"

I looked at my phone. "Hmm," I said, "let me see if I can get something on the M.A.D. base."

"You can do that?"

"My agency has a web-site."

"Can anybody access that?"

"No."

I moved my fingers over my phone; punching in passwords and scrolling through pages of information.

"So, you didn't really need me to rescue you." said Bob. "You could have just called somebody."

"Well, yes," I said, smiling up into his face, "but I'm glad you did." I looked back down at my phone. "Ah, here it is, we should go north."

"So you probably have a compass on that thing too."

"GPS"

"Right."

**-{(Chapter three)}-**

Sliding down slippery slopes, tip-toeing around slimy puddles, crouching under swarming bats and spider webs was soon becoming old-hat. You would think whoever created that cave could at least have given us a straight unobstructed path to our destination. But no… everything has to be difficult, right?

"Um, Bob," I said, "I have a question.

"Shoot."

"You said you knew it was me in Japan and France. How did you know it was me?"

"I knew because of Brain."

"You mean he told you?"

"No, no, I knew something was fishy anyway. When I told him you died he didn't seem surprised and he didn't cry. When I saw you and Brain in Japan, I put two and two together. Brain would not have reacted that way with anyone else and then the same thing happened again in France."

"Yes," I said, remembering happily, "when he came bounding into that little room I just wanted to hug him and hug him and hug him."

"He picked up your scent long before we entered the building."

"I'm glad he did. I thought I was going to die in that little room."

"Yeah, it didn't smell very good in there."

"Don't tease me." I said, playfully hitting him on the arm. "I couldn't help it."

He laughed.

"It was horrible."

"You didn't have your phone with you?"

"No, back then I still had my computer book and watch. Dr. Claw took them away from me."

"Maybe he put them in a museum somewhere.

"I'd still like to have them back even if it's just for sentimental reasons."

"I don't think… aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

I stopped and called out, "Bob?" Then I heard a whirring sound and the fap-fap-fapping of helicopter blades. Bob rose up in front of me with a grin on his face. "Be careful of that first step," he said, "it's a doozy." As he landed on the ground in front of me, the gadget-copter folded up into his hat. "It looks like a very large cavern in front of us. I don't think we can cross on foot."

I got down on my knees and looked over the edge. I couldn't see a bottom. "Bob," I said, "how far can we fly using your gadget-copter?"

"Maybe a mile."

I sat on the ground, pulled my phone out of my pocket and mumbled, "I wonder if I can find out anything about this cave."

"Shouldn't you have done that before you came in here?"

"You're teasing me again."

"You're always so serious."

"Am I?" I furrowed my brow and pursed my lips. "Yeah, I guess I am."

He sat next to me, dangling his legs over the edge of the cliff while I searched for something on the internet. He watched what I was doing with interest. I looked all through the internet for over an hour for something about that cave but couldn't find anything. I noticed the battery on my phone was going dead. "Oh crap, um, I mean, gosh, my phone is dying." I said, "It'll be a problem if I can't use this."

Bob opened up the tip of one of his fingers and said, "Plug it in here."

I plugged the phone into his finger. "You know what Bob? You never cease to amaze me."

He smiled.

"I think we have a couple of options." I said, "We could walk around the edge of this chasm and hope to find a path to the M.A.D. base or we could fly off into the great unknown on your gadget-copter."

"I think we should try walking first."

"Me too."

**-{(Chapter four)}-**

After trudging around in that cave for longer then I even know, we decided to rest for a while. Bob was lying on his back on the ground and I was sitting next to him. I don't know if I was suffering from exhaustion or some sort of mental illness but I asked, "Do you think there could ever be more to our relationship?" When he didn't answer, I continued, "What I mean is: do you think I could ever be more than just your niece?"

He sat up, grabbed my upper arms roughly, stared into my eyes and said, forcefully, "Don't say 'just my niece' like it means nothing!" He loosened his grip. "Oh dear, I made you cry, I'm sorry."

"Uncle Gadget," I sobbed, "I was always proud to be your niece."

"And I was always proud of you.

"I didn't want to leave you. It broke my heart when I found out. I really didn't want to leave. Please believe me."

"I believe you."

"When I find an article about you in the paper, I cut it out. I have an Inspector Gadget scrapbook at my parent's house. Every day I check the internet for news about you, just to make sure you're doing okay."

"That's good to know."

"I'm just saying that I care about you a lot."

"We had some good times, didn't we?"

"I was always told not to be emotionally involved with my work but during those eight years with you and Brain I couldn't help it."

I threw my arms around him and kissed him.

"Now, now, Penny," he said, turning his head away, "we can't do that."

"But I'm a real woman." I pleaded, "I'm thirty and I have real feelings."

"You're just letting this situation get the best of you."

"Can't you ever see more than just a little girl when you see me?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not, when I see you, I see my little niece."

I whimpered softly, "I'm sorry, Uncle Gadget, will you forget this ever happened?"

He tenderly embraced me, "No, I won't forget."

"Are you sure? It's kind of embarrassing."

He laughed.

I kissed his cheek. "I really do love you, Uncle Gadget."

"And I love you."

**-{(Chapter five)}-**

"Martha, don't you have a boyfriend?"

I wondered why he was bringing that up as we were picking our way around that gorge. I really didn't want to talk about my life-long lack of a love-life. Besides, I was still feeling embarrassed.

He persisted, "I would have thought you would have been married and raising a family by now."

I muttered, "My job has something to do with that."

"Don't spies get married?"

"Some do, some do, but that's not the only thing; my looks work against me."

"Your looks?" He actually sounded surprised. "I think you're adorable."

"Yes," I said, sarcastically, "I'm an adorable little ten year old with a round cherub face, a tiny body and a flat chest. The men just flock to me. You have no idea what it's like. Whenever I go to the grocery store, the mall or wherever, people come up to me and say, "Are you lost, little girl? Do you want me to help you find your Mommy?" or, or, the rare times I do have a date, we always seem to run into one of the guy's friends and they always say, "Whoa, dude, ya get stuck baby-sittin' the little sister?" and then they reach into their pocket, pull out and hand me a piece of candy and pat me on the head."

"Watch your step."

Bob grabbed me and pulled me back. I had almost fallen over a cliff again. I felt my heart racing as I watched some stones falling down I don't know how far. _Here I go again getting distracted._ I thought, angrily, _Martha, keep your mind on what you're doing. _

"Thank you, Bob," I said, smiling sheepishly up at him, "you saved my life again."

"You make it sound so one-sided. I happen to know you saved my bacon many times."

"You weren't supposed to know that."

"Martha, haven't you ever heard people say: when you're watching other people, other people are watching you?"

"I think I've heard something along those lines." I turned and poked him in the chest. "You know what, Bob Gadget? You're a phony."

"I'm a phony?"

"Yes, you are. When we're out in front of other people you do those pratfalls and say goofy stuff and chase the wrong people but when we're alone, you're sane and reasonable and even smart. What's up with that?"

"You mean you never noticed that before?"

"No, even when I lived with you, you were goofy. Now I find out it was just an act."

"Isn't this a little like the pot calling the kettle…"

"Yes," I interrupted, "yes it is."

"Okay, now that we've got that out of the way; why don't we check that GPS thing of yours? The M.A.D. base has to be around here somewhere."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked our location in relation to where the M.A.D. base was supposed to be and thought: _There has to be an easier way to get to that base than through this cave._

That was when we heard several huge explosions and the sound of boulders rolling and falling and bounding toward us. Bob immediately activated his gadget-dome which covered us like a tent; a very hard tent that can withstand a cave-in or an avalanche.

The cave-in only lasted a few seconds but when I looked up through the clear dome all I saw were large rocks.

"Now might be the time to call for help." said Bob, calmly.

I looked at my phone. "Oh," I said, "I have a message."

"What does it say?"

I pulled up the message. "It says: Abort mission, evacuate cave immediately."

"A very timely message."

I replied to the message with "HELP" and our coordinates.

All we could do was settle down and wait. I still had a little bit of food and water but I knew it wouldn't last very long.

"You know, Bob," I said, "if we're in here too long it'll start to smell like that little room in Japan."

"It'll smell worse than that with me in here."

"Eeeuuuwww!"

I held my nose, giggled and waved a hand in front of my face.

Bob laughed.

I touched the side of the dome and wondered what it was made of. It had to be really strong to withstand the force of all those rocks. I thought: _Where does he keep this stuff anyway?_

"Oh, Bob," I said, "how long will we have air in this thing?"

"Good question."

He took the top off of one of his fingers, a drill popped out and he began to drill holes in the dome.

I asked, "Won't that damage the structure of this thing?"

He answered, "What would be worse: being crushed or suffocating?"

I shrugged, "Six of one, half-dozen of the other."

"Exactly."

After he finished drilling holes, I took a swig of water and handed him the rest of what I had. He finished it off. We ate some of the granola bars I had with me and stared at each other or the walls or the rocks or our hands or our feet or whatever…

Time crept by.

"Maybe it would be a good idea if we went to sleep." said Bob, stretching out on his back, "I've heard we won't use as much air that way."

I lay down by him and said. "Do you mind if I cuddle up next to you?"

"I don't mind, but don't try anything funny. I happen to know ten year old girls find me irresistible."

"Don't tease me, Bob." I murmured, as I drifted off to sleep.

**-{(Chapter six)}-**

The food was long gone. I gave most of it to Bob; he needed it more than I did. The air was getting stale and even though we tried to take precautions the room was still smelly. Bob tried to keep our spirits up by telling jokes and stories. Days went by. I checked my phone now and then for updates but it wasn't long before I was unable to concentrate. I began to realize what a pampered life I had led. I was feeling intense painful hunger in my belly. I lost track of time and drifted in and out of sleep. Bob would hold me and talk to me and tell me to hang on. I thought about poor Bob having to sit in the dome with my dead and decaying body for who knows how long. It made me sad. _Is this how it's going to end? There's so much more I want to do._

**-{(Chapter seven)}-**

I felt a comfortable bed underneath me and cool air around me as my mind slowly moved toward consciousness. Then I mumbled something brilliant like, "Where am I?"

Bob's voice said, "Good morning, Martha."

I sat up in the bed, rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. The sun was shining through the window. Everything in the room was white. I fell back on the bed and put the pillow over my face. Bob laughed.

"Come on, Martha," he said, "up and at em."

I moaned, "I don wanna."

"Do I have to resort to tickling?"

I moved the pillow off of my face and frowned at him.

"Do you remember when I used to have to do that to get you up?"

"I remember, I remember, I'll get up."

"Good girl."

"What did I say about teasing me?"

Bob laughed.

"Why do I have to get up anyway? Isn't this a hospital?"

"Do you think I'm just going to let you lounge around?"

"Yes, I think you should. I'm very weak and sickly. What happened anyway? How did we get here?"

"A crew of men dug us out and rescued us."

"That was nice of them."

"Yes it was."

I sat up on the bed, hugged the pillow and said, "How are you, Bob? Are you okay?"

"I feel great." he said, with a smile. "And now I feel even better since you've come around. I was afraid for a while you weren't going to make it."

"I had a horrible nightmare."

"Tell me about it."

"You had to sit in that dome with my dead and rotting corpse forever and ever."

"I wish you hadn't told me that."

"You asked."

"But technically, you would have turned into a skeleton and then it wouldn't have been so bad."

"Eeeuuuwww… that's terrible."

Bob laughed and I did too.

"Bob," I said, suddenly feeling sentimental, "I'm so glad we were able to get together again."

"I'm glad too." he said, with a smile.

I gave him a teary smile in return and reached over to grab his hand. He took my hand and gently squeezed it. As we sat quietly together, I went over the events in the cave in my mind. It seemed like one of those "everything that can go wrong did go wrong" kind of things from start to finish.

"Hey Bob." I asked, "Did you ever find out what caused that cave-in?"

He answered, "Bombs."

"Bombs?"

"Yeah, the M.A.D. missile base was bombed."

"That would certainly explain the cave-in."

"Yep."

"Bob, can you die?"

"Yes, of course I can. I have a lot of artificial parts but my heart is real."

_His heart is real. I know that is true._

"I'm sorry," I said, "I shouldn't have asked you that. That nightmare will probably haunt me for a while."

He sat on the bed and took me in his arms. "If you're ever scared," he said, "you can always come to your old Uncle."

I hugged him and held him for ever so long.

**To be continued…**


End file.
